Ty Pennington’s new HGTV series “Ty Breaker” has a pretty cool concept and a really good title — so which came first, the idea or the pun? TheWrap asked the “Trading Spaces” and “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” alum exactly that.
“The concept for the show came first and once we realized how important a big change to a certain area of the family’s home was … we realized it really was the ‘Ty Breaker’ in which design they eventually chose to go with,” Pennington told TheWrap. “And let’s face it — it’s a great title (laughs).”
“Here’s the crazy part, right? I don’t think there has ever been a show that, like, the person’s name — on HGTV — was in the title,” Pennington said. “So the fact that they did it, I was blown away. I was like, wow, that’s a bold move.”
Pennington has an older brother named Wynn, by the way, so there’s been a Ty (tie) and Wynn (win) pun in existence for literally his entire life.
“When people are deciding whether they’re going to stay in the house they are in or just throw caution to the wind and get a new place, they’re right on the fence and it really is, they could go one way or the other,” Pennington said. “So the decision they make that we end up going down that path really is that tiebreaker for them.”
To compliment our conversation with Pennington, TheWrap also received an exclusive “Ty Breaker” sneak peek. Watch that above.
On “Ty Breaker,” the former TLC “Trading Spaces” standout and ABC “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” host will help “desperate” families decide whether to rehab their current property and stay in it, or to renovate a new home to “better meet their needs,” according to the show’s logline.
Though it might sound crazy, “Ty Breaker” is actually Pennington’s first HGTV series. He’s only appeared on the popular cable channel as a guest star over four episodes of the recently rebooted “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” which was hosted by “Modern Family” star Jesse Tyler Ferguson.
In each episode of “Ty Breaker,” Alison Victoria (“Windy City Rehab”), Grace Mitchell (“One of a Kind”) or Sabrina Soto (“The High Low Project”) will entice the family to choose an alternative home that can be renovated to fulfill their wish list, while Ty does all he can to persuade the family to stay.
“Ty Breaker,” which has an eight-episode order, premieres Monday, Jan. 11 at 9/8c on HGTV.